*This will be finished soon, now that it is Thanksgiving break and I don't have to feel guilty about writing instead of doing my homework.

Disclaimer: I own nothing of Rick Riordan's.*

*Chapter 5: Greg the Party Crasher*

(Annabeth)

What in Hades just happened?

One minute I was laughing and having a good time, then some guy in a Grimm Reaper costume decided to swipe at my boyfriend with a knife.

I pulled my knife out of my belt and prepared to strike, but before I could, the guy suddenly charged passed me, right for Travis and Connor.

"Woah, man, chill out!" Travis yelled, dodging out of the way. I looked around. Everyone was ignoring us, completely oblivious to the fact that we were being attacked, too caught up in the party, the music blocking out the noise we were making.

I huffed out angrily and, my ADHD getting the best of me, I grabbed the guy by the collar and yanked him back from Percy, Travis, and Connor, holding my knife to his throat and yanking off his mask with my free hand.

"You're that sycho that tried to kill us with your spear!" Connor said.

"I'm not a sycho, I'm Greg," the man said. "And I'm so sick of sons of Hermes."

"What? Why, what has Hermes done to you?" Travis asked.

"He left me to die, that's what!" Greg bellowed angrily. "Gave me a quest, he did, then when I needed his help, bleeding to death, he just left me there, the no good, rotten son of a-"

"Greg, please," I inturrupted before he could finish his dirty comment. "I understand that you're angry at Hermes, but there's no reason to take it out on his kids."

"It's Halloween, mate. No need to get your panties in a bunch. Savy?" Percy's sword shrunk back into a pen, which he put back into his pocket.

Greg looked at him weirdly. "Are you British or something?"

I face palmed. Only Percy.

"Just put your knife away, and we can talk like decent people, alright?" I slowly put away my knife. "Just put the knife down, Greg. You don't want to hurt anyone. There are kids here."

Greg hesitated. "Alright," he finally agreed, and put his knife back in his sleeve.

"How'd you get in here?" Connor asked. "Into camp, I mean."

"I'm a demigod, kid," Greg said. "I used to come here every summer. Then Hermes set me up, and I never came back."

"That's aweful," I said softly. I understood where Greg was coming from. Sometimes the gods weren't exactly friendly with their children, or to other people's children, for that matter. It was mean of me, but sometimes the gods only use us for their own selfish reasons.

"Who's your parent, then?" Travis asked, reaching for a brownie. Percy copied him, cramming the entire thing into his mouth. I swear he has four stomachs.

"Nemesis," Greg said bitterly.

Percy choked. "You're Ethan's brother?" he gasped.

"Who?" Greg said.

"No one. Never mind." Percy turned scarlet, and he reached for another brownie.

"Well," Connor said, "If, um, you want to . . . I don't know, stay for the party, you know, as long as you don't try to kill us."

"Sorry kid," Greg said. "My business was done here with this camp twelve years ago. I'm sorry. For everything. I've held a grudge for so long . . ."

"It's cool," Connor said. "You aren't the first person who's tried to kill us."

"And he certainly won't be the last," Travis added under his breath.

"Wait," I called as Greg turned to leave. "How . . . how did you survive to adulthood, if you didn't come back to camp?"

"My wife, Lily," Greg said softly. "After I met her, I wasn't afraid of anything. We were partners, for fighting, for everything."

"What do you mean, were?" I asked.

Greg turned away. "She died two years ago. Cyclopes attack." He took a shaky breath, then looked at Percy and me. "Don't let her go, kid," Greg told him. "You never know what could happen out there. One minute she could be there, the next minute she's not."

He turned on his heel and left. We watched him go. And I suddenly didn't feel like partying any more, a horrible feeling spreading in my stomach that something was about to go terribly wrong real soon.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

"Alright, it's almost midnight!" Travis yelled. Everyone turned to look at him. "Any more guesses?" He looked around. "None? Well alright then."

Chiron chuckled and stepped foward. It was so quiet you could hear a pen drop. "Well, since the party is nearly over, I guess Travis and Connor win the pumkin."

"Yes!" Travis and Connor high-fived each other.

"Percy, Annabeth, would you two do the honors and hand the Stolls their prize?" Chiron asked, his eyes sparkling.

Grinning, Percy and I walked hand in hand to the front. People gasped as we came into view. Then an explosion of voices suddenly went off.

"WHAT?" Clarisse yelled. "It was Prissy and Princess all along?"

"I KNEW IT!" another demigod in a bee costume yelled.

People were muttering and yelling. Percy couldn't stop grinning. I just smiled, though a horrible cold feeling was washing over me. Ever since Greg left, I couldn't get his last words out of my mind.

"I should have known," Katie Gardener laughed. "Only Percy and Annabeth could pull off being Jack and Angelica, they quirrel so much."

"Hey!" Percy and I said. "We do not."

Clarisse trudged foward and yanked lightly at Percy's beard.

"Ouch, Clarisse." He slapped her hand away.

"What did you do, glue it on?" She scoffed.

"Aphrodite did it!" Percy muttered.

I grabbed the pumkin off the table and handed it to Travis, who held it over his head in triumph. Connor took a bow as everyone applauded.

"And a special thanks to Aphrodite," Connor said, making everyone, especially the guys, I noticed, applaud louder. A wiff of sweet-smelling perfume adorned the air, which told us Aphrodite had heard him.

I hugged Percy close to me. It made me wonder if we were going to live out our lives together, or if one of us ends up getting killed.

I didn't even want to think about what would happen if I lost him. I don't think I could face the heartache.